


Parties and Pretty People

by waitineedaname



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, I just tagged those who have speaking roles but the whole starblaster crew is there, M/M, Modern Era, Starblaster As Family, Taakitz Week, adopted family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 16:43:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14109645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waitineedaname/pseuds/waitineedaname
Summary: The pleased moan that spilled out of his mouth as soon as the meal touched his tongue was completely unintentional and way louder than he wanted, and Kravitz froze, catching Taako’s eyes on him.“Um.” He swallowed. “Pretend I didn’t just do that.”“Oh no, homie.” Taako grinned, delight sparkling dangerously in his eyes. “I’m ingraining that into my memory forever. How would you describe that noise? Would you say it wasorgasmic?”





	Parties and Pretty People

**Author's Note:**

> it's a fucking miracle this came out on the right day. I meant to do all of the taakitz week days, but life is kicking my ass currently, so this is the only one I completed. Enjoy!
> 
> This features the prompts modern au + "Pretend I didn't just say that." (slightly altered)

_ Are you sure I won’t be imposing? _

**_(Barry)_ **

_ Yeah, don’t worry about it. Everyone’s happy to meet you. _

_ I hope you haven’t exaggerated any of your college stories. _

_ Should I bring food? _

**_(Barry)_ **

_ Definitely not _

_ Lup and her brother are cooking, whatever you bring would just end up in the trash _

_ Just come to hang out, don’t stress yourself out _

 

Kravitz sighed down at his phone, buttoning up his shirt. He hadn’t seen Barry since college, but work had brought him to the area, so he’d asked if he wanted to meet up sometime and catch up. When Barry invited him over for dinner, he’d imagined they’d be going out to some local restaurant or at least just a small dinner at his house, possibly with his fiancee. He didn’t realize until he’d arrived in town that he was in fact invited over to a large family dinner, featuring Barry’s extensive family of in-laws.

Not that Kravitz was  _ unhappy  _ to meet them, but… he wasn’t sure what to prepare himself for.

Barry’s house was small and welcoming, and it sounded like it was already bursting at the seams just from outside the door. Kravitz rang the bell and someone’s deep voice yelled “Door!”, followed by a peal of giggles and the continued sounds of conversation. Kravitz sent out a brief prayer that whoever answered the door wasn’t a complete stranger, and he let out a sigh of relief when the door pulled open to reveal Barry’s familiar face.

“Hey, you made it!” Barry stepped aside and let him in. “Find your way okay?”

“Yeah, my hotel’s not too far away. You have a lovely home, Barry.” Kravitz smiled, trying not to reveal his anxiety.

“Thanks, I’ll let Lup know you said that.” Barry grinned and took his coat from him, putting it up beside the door. “C’mon, everyone’s in the kitchen.”

The volume increased as they went down the hall until they walked into the kitchen and it reached its zenith. Crowded in the warm kitchen was a group of all shapes, sizes, and colors, all chatting happily. A few noticed their entrance and gave him a warm greeting.

“Kravitz, this is Magnus, Lup’s adopted brother,” A burly man with sideburns shook his hand eagerly, “These’re Merle and Davenport, their dads,” An older dwarf and gnome gave him a friendly nod, “That’s Lucretia, she’s Magnus’s cousin,” A young woman with white hair waved from where she was leaning against the counter, “And these are the twins, Lup and Taako.”

Kravitz’s attention was finally drawn to the two elves bickering at the stovetop. They were a whirlwind of action; he could barely see what they were doing, but whatever it was, it smelled delicious. They were so busy that they didn’t seem to notice him initially, but after a moment, one of them glanced back and gave him a bright smile.

“Hey! Kravitz, right? Bar’s told me a lot about you.” That must be Lup, then, and beside her-

Kravitz liked to think he wasn’t one to be too dramatic, but holy shit, when that elf looked up, his heart stopped. He’d never seen someone so stunning, from the way the loose pieces of his brade curved around his ears to the highlight on his cheekbones to the warmness of his skin. If Kravitz didn’t know any better, he’d say the man’s eyes had widened slightly when he saw him too, but the surprise was morphed into a smirk so quickly that he could have imagined it.

“Sup, Krav. We were beginning to think Barold made you up.”

“That was one time.” Barry complained, and both twins snickered. Lup leaned over to give Barry a peck on the cheek, but Taako was still staring Kravitz down, an odd look his eyes.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Kravitz asked, feeling awkward just standing there. Taako looked like he was about to answer, but Lup shooed him away before he could.

“We’ve got this, you catch up. Babe, get him a beer or wine or something.”

Kravitz was absorbed into the rest of the group with a wine glass in hand before he knew what had happened. Magnus dragged him into his conversation with friendly enthusiasm and it wasn’t long before Kravitz’s worries of it being an awkward night were assuaged. They were a weird group, but they had a way of making someone feel comfortable and at home. Plus, having a plethora of stories about the embarrassing things Barry did in college certainly helped.

Their conversation only paused when the twins announced that dinner was ready and they were ushered into the living room with plates of delicious smelling food, and then the chatter picked back up again, only interrupted by pauses to take a bite.

Kravitz was in the middle of a passionate discussion with Davenport on the opera he was conducting for during his visit when he took his first bite of the food. The pleased moan that spilled out of his mouth as soon as the meal touched his tongue was completely unintentional and way louder than he wanted, and Kravitz froze, catching Taako’s eyes on him.

“Um.” He swallowed. “Pretend I didn’t just do that.”

“Oh no, homie.” Taako grinned, delight sparkling dangerously in his eyes. “I’m ingraining that into my memory forever. How would you describe that noise? Would you say it was  _ orgasmic _ ?”

From below him, he heard Davenport mutter “I can’t listen to this” and walk away, but Kravitz was too focused on hoping his blush wasn’t too obvious. “I wouldn’t go  _ that  _ far. It’s just very good food.”

“If that’s the noise you make when eating lasagna, I can’t wait to hear what it sounds like when you try the cookies we’re making later.” Taako winked.

“I think I might have to pass, don’t wanna hit my embarrassment quota too early in the night.”

“Oh, trust me. Your sex noises aren’t going to be the worst thing that happens tonight. Merle’s only a couple gins in and Lup forgot to clear out all the potted plants.”

“...Should I ask what that means?”

“You don’t wanna know.” Taako waved him off. “So you’re a conductor, huh? Gotta say, I dunno how someone so hot, goth, and musical ended up being buds with the denim science nerd over there.”

Kravitz laughed softly, not sure how to address the compliment. “We had some mutual friends. He’s musical too, you know.”

“Shut up and let me compliment you.” Taako stepped imperceptibly closer, now ever so slightly closer than the normal conversational distance.

“Your compliments sound awfully close to teases.” Kravitz said, not stepping away. If that’s where Taako was gonna take this, Kravitz wasn’t going to complain.

“I’m not gonna ruin my image just to woo a hot boy.” Taako speared some of Kravitz’s side salad and stared him dead in the eyes as he slowly put it into his mouth, as if daring Kravitz to stop him. Kravitz struggled not to laugh.

“Right. I’m new here, what’s that image supposed to be?”

“Oh, y’know.” Taako flipped his braid over his shoulder and gave him exaggerated bedroom eyes. “Gorgeous elf chef that’s too good for you.”

“I see.” Kravitz decided to lean into the flirty air Taako was giving him and reached over to tuck a loose curl behind Taako’s ear. It took all his willpower to not look smug when Taako’s eyes widened imperceptibly. “Well, you’ve definitely got the gorgeous part down.”

“Y-Yeah.” Taako quickly cleared his throat. “Hell yeah, I do. This is Taako’s natural state, baby.”

“You spent an hour doing your makeup, Ko.” Lup suddenly appeared next to them, and they both jumped slightly. She smirked and took a bite out of her baby carrot. “Leave some space for Pan, alright? This is a family event.” Kravitz took a half step back, and Taako did the same, both of them realizing they’d slowly been getting close enough to touch.

“I didn’t hear anything about a family event when you and Barold were making out in the corner earlier.” Taako snapped back, recovering awfully quickly.

Lup just shrugged as if to say ‘guilty as charged.’ “I’m gonna go get the cookies started. You wanna come tell me your bullshit argument about why walnuts shouldn’t be in a dessert?”

“Desserts are supposed to be sweet, nuts have no fucking place in a cookie!”

“Sure. I mean, you’re wrong, but sure.” Lup grinned, already walking towards the kitchen. Taako huffed and stormed after her, but not before giving Kravitz’s arm a brief squeeze.

By the time the two had returned, Fantasy Cards Against Humanity had been pulled out and the living room was filled with groans of disgust as Merle won yet another round. Taako plopped himself down directly in Kravitz’s eyeline, the spot next to him on the couch already filled by Lucretia - who had won far more rounds than Kravitz expected for such a quiet woman. It was hard to focus on the game with Taako giving him bedroom eyes the whole time, but Kravitz managed.

The Card Czar title made its way to him, and he pulled a card. “What never fails to liven up the party?”

Barry grimaced from where he was leaning against Lup. “If any of you assholes actually liven up the party with these, I’m kicking you out.”

“No promises.” Taako sang, putting his card down confidently and staring Kravitz down with a smirk. Kravitz quirked an eyebrow back at him and collected the white cards.

The responses ranged from nonsensical (“I didn’t have any good cards left!” said Magnus) to horrifyingly sexual (“Merle fuckin’ Highchurch, if that was you, I’m revoking all of your card game privileges”). Nothing stuck out that much, until:

“Tentacle porn?” Kravitz glanced around the room and saw Taako sit back on his elbows. “What kind of parties are you going to?”

“Hopefully one that you’re at, tiger.” Taako winked and the room erupted into disgusted shouts. Lup kicked at his legs, and Taako burst into cackles. Kravitz had to bury his face in his hands to hide his giggles, which only delighted Taako further. Laughing helplessly, he slid the black card across to Taako, who whooped. “Suck on that!”

“Maybe later.” Kravitz said with a wink, doing his best to hold himself together.

“ _ Ohhh! _ ” Magnus shouted, shoving Taako and laughing raucously when Taako suddenly looked embarrassed, like he hadn’t expected the flirt to get thrown back at him.

The game grew steadily more flirtatious from then on, both Taako and Kravitz trying to outdo each other while simultaneously grossing out the rest of the room. Any other time, Kravitz would be embarrassed, but their teases only goaded him on. He only laid off when Taako had to get up to pull the cookies out of the oven, and that ended up digging him into an even deeper hole; he tried not to moan again, but the way his eyes rolled back when he took a bite certainly didn’t help his case.

It was past midnight way sooner than he would have liked, and he hated to leave, but the logical side of him told him he had to be up at a reasonable hour. He was here on a work trip, after all. So, he said his goodbyes, told Barry he’d text him more, got a hug from Magnus, and started to leave.

“Wait! I’ll walk you to the door!” Taako hopped to his feet, at his side in an instant.

“But it’s just- Oh, I see.” Kravitz grinned and let Taako take him by the arm and lead him down the hall. They lingered at the door and Taako shifted his weight back and forth.

“So,” Taako said airily, “This is where I’d say ‘hey, wanna go to the opera tomorrow’, but I’m pretty sure you’re gonna already be there.”

“Chances are high.” Kravitz smiled, liking where this was going.

“Natch. But I was thinking, maybe you’d wanna… Grab dinner afterwards? There’s a fancy restaurant like a block away and you can listen to me talk about how I’d make their dishes better.” Taako glanced at him hopefully and immediately started backtracking. “Totally chill if you say no, though, no skin off my nose-”

“Taako.” Kravitz cut him off. “I’d love to.”

“Oh. Hell yeah. Course you do, I’m a fuckin’ catch.” Taako grinned, relief obvious on his face.

“You wanna give me your number? That way I can let you know when I’m done after the show.” He said, already pulling his phone out of his pocket. Taako put his number in his contacts with more eagerness than he would probably admit, and the purple heart he put after his name definitely didn’t escape Kravitz. And then he had his phone back and they were left standing there again, neither of them wanting to step away.

“So… I guess I should let you go, huh?”

“I guess so.” They still lingered at the door. Kravitz hesitated, then went for it, diving in to kiss Taako’s cheek. Taako stared at him, dumbstruck, as Kravitz opened the door and stepped outside. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Taako.”

“Y-Yeah. Sure thing, my man.”

Kravitz had never been more excited to finish an opera in his life.

 

**Author's Note:**

> come yell about taz with me on [tumblr](http://waitineedaname.tumblr.com/)


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